Rebuild engine

Pull them together?

JRE

stick a jack under it! It won't fall down since the halfshafts and mount hold it some, but it will drop some. So just support it with a floor jack to remove and install engine! BTW Did you think about sticking an Audi 80 2.0l engine in it?

For some reason, I visualized the transaxle moving down in a twisting fashion if the engine was removed. Not straight down.

Naw. I'll stick with the original 1.8L engine. Try to get another 350K out of it. With 5 buck a gallon gas looming in the horizon, every mpg counts.

Do you know where I can find the side panel upholstery retainers at. Those nylon plugs the snap to the body and retain the panel to the door. The standard ones old chevy and fords use don't work, they're different enough not to.

I guess if I was replacing the engine I would get a JY engine. They have become soooo inexpensive and plentiful around here. In your case I would look for a Jetta/Golf engine, if I could not find an inline engine, that would be years 85-87 which would only require you to change over the manifolds, pulleys, oil pump, oil pan and coolant pipe outlets IIRC. A quick 2 days of mechanic-ing and you are back on the road again. BTW I installed an '83 GTI engine in my '83 Audi 4000s.

The reason why I suggested the Audi 2.0 engine is that it could give you some more oomph, are becoming more plentiful and it comes out of an inline "VW" based vehicle. Back in 1991 the Audi 2.0 engines would have cost more than the purchase price of my Audi, and I had that GTI engine laying around the garage. lol I am not totally sure if the Audi 2.0l engine is slightly taller than the

1.8l engines though.

If you still plan on rebuilding your current engine take close looks at how VW got your Fox engine to last 350K miles. What kind of piston rings are in that engine. ;-)

For those clips.......... Dealer Junkyard I have a guy at the flea market that carries a selection of different clips, but I have usually pulled what I have needed at my local 'pick n pull' yard. ;-)

Yes. Looked into both 2.0L and five speed possibilities some years back. My motor simply doesn't have enough oomph to compete with current traffic. Not worried about that anymore. Moot for me now.

My driving techniques are somewhat different than the usual VW owner. Don't try to compete or keep up with accelerating traffic. Drive the posted speed limit. I don't rev the hell out of it. Used Mobil 1 since 94. Changed oil every 6 months. Poured money into the entire fuel system when I first got it in 92, fuel pump, transfer pump, injectors, all fuel hoses, fuel distributor. Replaced brain box twice with used models. Replaced ignition model once. Replaced magnetic pickup twice. Replaced the fuel distributor again in 2002. Replaced clutch assy in 2000. Replaced clutch disc and throwout bearing in 2006. Replaced transaxle with used one in 2006, lost

4th gear, no warning. CV joints replaced twice. Distributor replaced once with new model. Distributor cap and rotor always replaced in tandem, about every year. Spark plugs, about every two years. Was in the Navy for 20 years. VW spent alot of time in storage while overseas aboard various ships. Varied from 6 months to almost a year. Getting the kinks out became something I learned well when bringing out of storage. Right now, she uses oil. Just a hint out of exhaust. Used no oil period up to 2005.

Dealer gives me retarded look when I mention model and year. They don't carry the stuff anymore. Nothing for them to look at, in order to see if it crosses over to latter years nylon retainers for upholstered panels.

Junkyard stuff is no good. The nylon retainers get too hard over the years. Too brittle to reuse. They break when trying to remove them. No matter how careful.

Probably learn to upholster myself. Will use stainless steel washers/screws to hold the panels in place. Trying to determine a good material for a upholstery backing support vice the cork material VW used on the vehicle.

Hmmm Part of the engine's demise is probably you not driving it hard. Sorry but I can be blunt at times! These engines are meant to be driven! If you "baby" them then they start burning oil and losing power. At least that is what I conclude from seeing vehicles with oil burning issues. I prefer to purchase 8-10 year old VWs with mileage over 100,000 miles since they are probably broken in then.

You might want to try soaking the cylinders overnight with some compounds that might clean up the debris that might be causing the rings to stick = oil burning. SeaFoam may work but I think that there are other snake oils out there. Also the valve guides or their seals might be causing part of the problem.

I have seen several "driven" VW engines that show no age even after 230,000 miles. One of them is my '83 GTi engine. I have also seen a few "babied" VW engines that had very low mileage and were consuming oil with Gusto! lol These engines are meant to be driven with attitude!! The triple electrode spark plugs can last 40K miles.

Yeah I have replaced too many of the inline 4-speed transmissions in the Audis and VWs. :-( Even had to change one 5-speed trans in an '87 Audi. So the 5-speeds are more durable IMHO.

BTW I have only had to do one serious repair on my '83 Audi 4000S ('83 GTI engine) and that was to replace a leaking cylinder head gasket. I have owned it since 1991, when I "rebuilt" it, and it has been reliable and basically troublefree for these 16 years and I don't baby it!

Do you need the part numbers for those plastic clips? They might be very expensive from the dealer too so maybe something similar can be found! Got any pictures of them?

The engine and tranny were installed at the factory as an assembly. The tranny is pulled horizontally a few inches to disengage the clutch input shaft or the torque converter. Then the transmission drops down. That is after you have removed the half shafts and other attachments like spedometer cable and backup light harness.

Dealership should have reta>For some reason, I visualized the transaxle moving down in a twisting

bah wah wah to driving hard. But not changing oil when needed, driving short distances, lots of cold starts cause lots of wear. I have seen in my limited experience, little cylinder wear on my vehicles with

200,000-300,000 miles. I usually drive an hour or more every time the car is started. I use Mobil synthetic oils. I do not live in a harsh cold envronment.

I have seen oil consumption drop significantly in my Toyotas from quarts per oil change to no adds when I do my own oil valve stem seals. Last valve job I let someon else do the valve stem seals and the consumption is excessive. i need to remove that head to change the seals this summer. On a Volkswagen I would remove the head, look at the cylinders for excessive wear, plastiguage the bearings, and take my chances. If the valve cover does not show lots of sludge and it is an engine that does not have known oil consumption issues then it is probably ok.

I installed an Audi 2L in my 84 gti. It had cylinders that were more worn than the engine I was replacing. It actually did fairly well on oil inspite of the cylinders starting to look worn like a Chevy. Back when I was a kid in Ohio it seemed that other kids would pull the heads off Chevys. The valve covers would be covered in gunk. Cylinders would always have a nasty ridge. I do not recall anyone removing a head or valve cover where things were clean. It could have been dino oil, cold weather and short trips that made such a mess. I have not been around motor heads working on Chevys since I move down to Georgia where the climate is not so harsh. I do not know that I have ever seen a 100,000 mile Chevy taken apart down here but I hang around with different kind of people now. I do see cars that are 20 or more years old and many seem to run ok. Some are mosquito foggers but not many.

Speaking of snake oil. Back when I lived up north by brother's auto mechanic instructor would have good luck running a quart of auto trany lube in the crank case for a few miles. How many miles I do not know. The detergent in the tranny lube would free up stuck rings I guess.

Yep "driving short distances" is considered abnormal/abusive driving! Your

1 hour drive is probably considered "normal". I just see more engines "messed up" if very soft footed people drive them, along with short distant driving. ;-) I know one little old lady (70?) that had an '85 Jetta with 240K miles and that engine ran WELL! But she never babied it and actually drove it hard.

Trans was going out and the rust was coming in. She now has a '98 Jetta

2.0l 5-speed. lol

I have basically dealt with foreign engines decades ago for non-VW engines. When I tore apart an oil burning Datsun engine all the rings were stuck. Replaced the rings, cleaned things up and it smoked no more after all of the oil burnt out of the exhaust. I might have tried some solvent in the spark plug holes had I been informed of that first.

The domestic engines that I am familar with .... Jeep 360 engines (built to last and show little cylinder wear), and the 4.0 engine (can run well even though the cylinders wear down). Sometimes it is the quality or metal blend of the block. VWs have good quality so I attribute some problems with abuse. ;-)

So that ATF could be some "solvent" that the OP could try pouring in the spark plug holes to possibly free up the rings if they are stuck. Maybe his valve guide seals are brittle/shot.

Please troubleshoot your engine before you break it all the way down so you kinda know what the problem is. I have seen the clogged breathers in the valve cover help to blow oil out of spots.

Tried to repair, but botched an electrical problem. 3 failures. High beam indicator led (required for safety inspection due this month), and two backlight incandescents. The "seat"s for 2 lights for the backlighting of the instrument panel was worn beyond repair. Tried new incandescent bulbs. Its part of the the film panel wiring that attaches to the back of the instrument panel. Solder just raises and parts even further. Can't find replacement. Swapped various leds for bright light indicator, and reversed polarity on each to verify it wasn't in backwards. No workie. In the process, the analog VDO clock don't work now. Checked fuse, its good. I lost my patience with the entire thing.

Time to put in pasture until I can find replacement instrument panel, and rebuild engine. Did find a place on the internet where they rebuild VW instrument panels.

The Golfs and Jettas might have the same instrument cluster within certain years, I am not sure of this, but there are several different plugs and clusters. Look for the exact plug(s) and the desired instruments! So a local junkyard might be able to hook you up with another instrument cluster (speedo/tach/clock/etc)! ;-)

BTW I have been able to hook up those bulbs with wire after some of those panels have foil issues.